Charles Cross Excited For Opportunity to Bring Toughness, Physicality to Seahawks' Offensive Line

While known for his pass protecting prowess coming from a pass-happy offense, Cross takes pride in his run blocking. Believing he will be a fixture at left tackle with a well-rounded skill set, Seattle happily turned in his name for the ninth selection.

RENTON, WA - Facing the best competition in college football week in and week out in the heralded SEC conference, newly-drafted Seahawks tackle Charles Cross turned in one of the finest seasons by a college offensive lineman in the nation for Mississippi State last year.

Only a redshirt sophomore, Cross played like a seasoned super senior for the Bulldogs in 2021, yielding only two sacks and no additional quarterback hits on 719 pass protection snaps, earning himself a stellar 87.2 grade from Pro Football Focus. He garnered First-Team All-American honors from ESPN and the Sporting News as well as being a First-Team All-SEC selection.

Despite those impressive numbers and accolades, however, Cross entered the pre-draft process with plenty of questions about his run blocking ability. Coming from coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense, he rarely played out of a three-point stance and only had 200 run blocking snaps last season as the team flung the pigskin all over the yard each Saturday.

But while some teams may have been concerned Cross would struggle adapting to a pro-style scheme where he's asked to put his hand in the dirt and get after it in the ground game, don't count Seahawks general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll among those. Wisely making the safe choice to draft him ninth overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, they couldn't have been happier to see the athletic blocker fall into their laps on Thursday night.

"You've probably heard over the last two days or the last seven months or whatever about the run game stuff," Schneider told reporters after the conclusion of the first round. "The guy is a really good athlete, he's going to be able to run his feet and bend and he can really move in space, so it was really kind of a scheme deal there with coach Leach."

Echoing Schneider's sentiments, Carroll lauded Cross for his physical presence and his propensity for finishing blocks, adding, "As he’s finishing guys off, you can tell when a guy is really in command of the block and he’s got an attitude of he’s going to let you know that he’s going to whip your butt. There’s just nothing that we didn’t like. Every aspect of it. The grit that he brings is really going to be a compliment to the rest of our guys.”

Speaking with local media for the first time moments after he took the stage to shake commissioner Roger Goodell's hands in Las Vegas, though the public narrative suggests otherwise given the offense he played in at the college level, Cross described his game as tough and nasty, expressing his exuberance for run blocking.

As for his lack of experience working out of a three-point stance in Leach's system, Cross indicated he played extensive snaps with his hand in the dirt earlier in his football career, including his freshman year in Starkville under then-coach Joe Moorhead in 2019. During the pre-draft process, he's made firing out of such a stance a point of emphasis as he gears up for life in the NFL trenches.

“I feel very confident in it. I’ve been training that way for the last couple of months," Cross commented. "I played in a three-point stance all of my high school career and some of my first year of college also. So I feel very comfortable in it.”

After scouring through Cross' film, Carroll, Schneider, and the Seahawks scouting staff share that confidence and for good reason. Along with getting to know him on a personal level through Zoom meetings and a formal visit at the Senior Bowl, they watched him hold his own against many of college football's juggernauts in the SEC, including a dominant showing against perennial powerhouse Alabama last fall.

Citing that game as his best performance at Mississippi State, Cross didn't allow a single sack or quarterback hit on nearly 70 offensive snaps while facing a defense loaded with future NFL talent. Though he never beat the Crimson Tide in three years with the Bulldogs, he acknowledged the game meant "a little bit more" to him given the level of competition and prestige of the program.

While offensive linemen heralding from Air Raid offenses often carry a negative stigma that hovers over them coming into the NFL, Carroll and Schneider could see Cross' competitive fire on the field. In all facets, including picking up twists and stunts in pass protection, Carroll was so impressed by his athleticism, tenacity, and technique that he went back and watched again after hearing Cross reference the game in his post-draft interview.

“In that particular game, they did a lot of games, and he had a lot of switches to make good adjustments on," Carroll remarked. "They rushed at least four different types of rushers at him, and he handled all of them, a couple of smaller guys and a couple of bigger guys. That was a really good club too. I went back this year, not last year, to check that out, so it was really impressive."

Considering his limited exposure to pro-style run concepts, like any incoming rookie, Cross will face growing pains as he adapts to the next level. With less than 25 career college starts to his name, facing NFL pass rushers will be an adjustment as well and demand technical refinement, specifically with widening his base and avoiding his hands from slipping outside. He won't be given a starting job in Seattle and will have to earn it facing off against 2021 sixth-round pick Stone Forsythe.

But after doing their homework, the Seahawks have no reservations he will be able to step in and play right away, believing they landed what Schneider called a "pillar" at left tackle who could protect the blind side for years to come. Blessed for the opportunity to play in the league and eager to prove himself worthy of a top-10 selection, Cross can't wait to fly out to the Pacific Northwest and begin competing with his new team.

“I know they have a great program, it’s a great organization, they are a physical organization, they appreciate physicality, toughness, nastiness, and really everything you need to do in order to be successful. I’m just excited, I’m excited for the opportunity, and I’m ready to get to work.”